21st Century Breakdown
by Color With Marker
Summary: During American Idiot. Goody-two-shoes Christian, in the upcoming Class of '13, meets Gloria, a rebellious classmate who's known as "Little Girl" throughout Jingletown. As she drags him down into her life of drugs and destruction, he tries to help her out of it. Possible cameos made by the Idiots.
1. Song of the Century

**SONG OF THE CENTURY**

Christian stood in front of Mary Help of Christian Church near his new home in Jingletown. He'd spend his whole life in what he called Nowheresville, or, more specifically, Maine. His mother had to sell their home and move somewhere else, needing a new start from living in a town where everyone took pity on them. It wasn't his fault that his dad was in the military. His dad was doing what was right. He'd always say that it was what God would do, and something that Jesus will do again. Or something. Christian didn't really hear much of his father's reasoning over the sounds of his mother's sobs. This was gonna be the year of change, his family said. He guessed that the corner of Lisbon Avenue and East 9th Street in a yellow house with a missing stair and frayed siding was the change they meant.

He stopped in front of the pink building's double doors. Back home, he'd always spent a few days a week at church, and once a while went to a confessional. Rarely was there anything he did bad; they ranged from using the Lord's name in vain to cheating on a math quiz to keep his grades up. Now, he just wanted to wish for a good life here. Friends like the ones back home, a school just as wonderful as the one before, and that his life would be as great as before. He walked inside and stared at the empty benches that led to the altar. A statue of Jesus Christ was on the back wall, his arms open as if to welcome Christian. He walked up to the statue and bowed down in front of him.

"I don't know what I want the most," he said quietly. "I want for everything to work out, I want my dad to come home soon, I want..." He chuckled softly and shook his head. "Who am I to tell you what to do with my life? You're the one who's already chosen it for me. So what I'm really asking is that you just make my life what you intended it to be, and I pray that it's for the better." He stood up and walked out of the church.

"_Sing us a song of the century  
That's louder than bombs and eternity  
The era of static and contraband  
That's leading us to the promised land  
Tell us a story by candlelight  
Waging a war and losing the fight_

_They're playing the song of the century  
Of panic and promise and prosperity  
Tell me a story into that goodnight_

_Sing us a song for me..._"


	2. 21st Century Breakdown

**HEROES AND CONS - 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN**

Christian's first day of school was, well, boring, to say the least. All of the kids were the same to him at St. Elizabeth High School. Each simple, each smart, each religious. It was like Christian was surrounded by a couple hundred teenage clones of himself. He didn't have too much of a problem with that as much as he hated the lack of diversity. At least in New York there was the possibility of at least one in every five students who was more flamboyant than the rest. In New York, more kids were having sex in the bathrooms rather than checking out their tan lines in the mirror. The fights were real and dangerous, not like the two girls in his second period class who threatened to mass text the entire school embarrassing secrets before making up by the time the next bell rang. It was too bland for Christian's taste.

During his lunch period, Christian nearly vomited at the sight of the lunch options. There was a major lack in real food, like beef. Here, there was salad, salad, and more salad. It was a health food overload. There was also water and tea rather than energy drinks or maybe even soda. No junk food, all vegan options. Everyone else seemed thrilled to eat this, while Christian grabbed a few carrot sticks and piece of bread, and decided that tomorrow he'll bring his own lunch rather than eat this animal food. He sat down alone - no way he wanted to sit around any of these people, who spent most of their time together on their phones - and ate in silence. It was only his sophomore year; how the hell was he supposed to deal with this for another two and a half years?

As if on cue, a couple of his classmates sat in front of him, a boy and girl from his math class. They had perfectly tan skin, light blonde hair, and bright blue eyes, like nearly one-third of the school did. In fact, Christian probably stuck out like a sore thumb with his dark eyes, pale skin, and dyed black hair (done after going to a concert one night a few years ago, which he liked enough to keep around). The fact that they chose to sit with him confused him. Then again, everyone usually took pity on the new kid.

"You're that new kid, right?" the girl asked. "Christian?"

"Um, yeah," Christian answered.

"Dude, aren't you hungry?" the boy asked. "You have, like, nothing on your tray."

Christian had to refrain from making a comment about how his piece of bread was more than the large salads sitting in front of his new acquaintances. "I'm not that hungry," he lied. "I'm still trying to get used to Jingletown, you know?"

Based on the blank looks they gave him, it was safe to bet they didn't understand him. The girl took her plastic fork and stabbed a chunk of lettuce and cherry tomato. "Your accent's funny," she said. "Where you from?"

"New York City."

"That place with the tall buildings?"

"Um, sure." Was that really what they cared about? He expected people to cry out, You mean where Broadway is? Ground Zero? The Big Apple? Oh, I wish _I_ lived there! like almost everyone else he'd met when he wasn't in NYC had told him in the past. Here, it was all about Oakland and nothing more.

"Ugh," the boy grunted, a look of disgust crossing his face. "Look who's actually here today."

"Not them," the girl gasped. She turned her head quickly and rolled her eyes.

"Who?" Christian asked, curious.

"Don't look, but the school outcasts are here."

Of course, Christian looked past the two blondes to see a group of people who definitely caught his eye. They weren't blondes or brunettes with washed hair and neat brand-name clothing. They were punks with dyed hair and torn outfits that would give the fashion police heart attacks. It was a group consisting of four girls and two boys, with a girl with a black ponytail leading them. She had on a leather jacket, black tank top, and shorts that barely covered anything, and boots that made her look like the prostitutes on Fifth Street in New York. The rest, with multiple different styles that all seemed to match the others, were laughing and enjoying themselves, with their peers glaring at them with obvious annoyance. They occupied an empty table, their bodies sprawled all across the tabletop and seats around it.

But Christian couldn't take his eyes off of the girl with the black ponytail.

"Who're they?" he asked.

"The Dazers," the boy answered. "At least, that's what they call themselves. I think it's because they only show up, like, one day a week to school."

"I think they call themselves Dazers," the girl added, "because they're so intoxicated that they're always in some sort of daze."

"Do they have names?" Christian asked.

"Oh, yeah, right," the girl said. She pointed at each person as she named them, "She's Amy, a total drunk with a high hairdo _all the time_. Like, ew, it's a total rat's nest. They call her Baby Eyes because they're so huge. Then there's Amanda, the girl with pink streaks, who laughs at everything. Angel Blue has the front of his hair fluffed up. Ashley used to be normal, but then she met them and magically transformed into a freak. Rusty James is the other guy, but they sometimes call him X-Kid, because he likes X. You know, the drug? And their leader is the girl in the leather jacket, Little Girl." She paused to make a face. "Gloria."

"I heard they're hiding a little kid in their house," the boy continued. "Gloria is a sinner, and she drags every one of them down with her. It's so sad it's nearly pathetic."

Christian nodded absentmindedly, still focused of Gloria. He blinked, and it was like they were the only two people in the cafeteria. She looked over at him and grinned wickedly before climbing onto the table.

"_Born into Nixon I was raised in hell  
A welfare child  
Where the teamsters dwelled  
The last one born  
The first one to run  
My town was blind from refinery sun_

_My generation is zero  
I never made it  
As a working class hero._"

The other five leaped out of their seats and joined in.

"_21st Century Breakdown  
I once was lost but never was found  
I think I am losing  
What's left of my mind  
To the 20th century deadline_."

Gloria jumped onto the floor and Angel Blue and Rusty James stood on the table.

"_I was made of poison and blood  
Condemnation is what I understood  
Videogames of the towers fall  
Homeland security  
Could kill us all_

_My generation is zero  
I never made it  
As a working class hero._"

The others joined in again, Christian still mesmerized by these outcasts.

"_21st Century Breakdown  
I once was lost but never was found  
I think I'm losing  
What's left of my mind  
To the 20th century deadline_."

Christian looked around and saw that everyone else ignored the Dazers. How could they? These kids were the most interesting thing happening in Jingletown! He watched as Amanda hopped up on a chair.

"_We are the cries of the class of '13  
Born in the era of humanity  
We are the desperate in the decline  
Raised by the bastards of 1969_."

She got down as Angel Blue took her place.

"_My name is no one  
The long lost son  
Born on the 4th of July  
Raised in the era of heroes and cons  
That left me for dead or alive._"

Next came Ashley.

"_I am a nation  
A worker of pride  
My debt to the status quo._"

Then Rusty James.

"_The scars on my hands  
And the means to an ends  
Is all the that I have to show._"

Amy went after him.

"_I swallowed my pride  
And choked on my faith  
I've given my heart and my soul  
I've broken my fingers  
And lied through my teeth  
The pillar of damage control._"

All of the Dazers stood on the table and stomped their feet, causing all the students to turn their heads to watch the riot starting to form.

"_I've been to the edge  
And I've thrown the bouquet  
Of flowers left over the grave  
I sat in the waiting room  
Wasting my time  
And waiting for judgement day_

_I praise liberty  
The 'freedom to obey'  
Is the song that strangles me  
Don't cross the line_."

"_Gloria, report to the principal's office immediately!_" a voice on the intercom screeched. The others giggled. Gloria rolled her eyes; being in trouble was something she was used to. She climbed off the table and noticed Christian for the first time. She smiled and walked over to the table, pushing the two blondes across from him aside and leaning toward him.

"_Dream, America dream  
I can't even sleep  
From the light's early dawn_

_Scream, American scream  
Believe what you see  
From heroes and cons._"

With that, she left. The two blondes fixed their seats and made gagging noises.

"Thank _goodness_ we got to you first," the girl remarked.

"Otherwise you'd end up being friends with someone life _her_," the boy added.

Christian nodded and stared at the remaining Dazers, who were sitting around and seeming to enjoy themselves, despite being the most disliked group in St. Elizabeth. He smiled; he _wanted _to be friends with people like them.


	3. Know Your Enemy

**HEROES AND CONS - KNOW YOUR ENEMY**

Gloria stormed down the hallway to the principal's office. This wasn't uncommon for her; every time she was in school, she did _something_ wrong. Maybe it was because she wasn't the poster teen for local dentists or sunscreen billboards. Or maybe it's because everyone here just hated her. They didn't even have to know who she was to decide that they'd never be her friend. That didn't bother her too much. Why would she want to be friends with people who played it safe? They thought that being bad was throwing a huge party when their parents were out of town. She and the other Dazers scoffed at that. For them, if they had parents to piss off, would be playing with safety equipment on. What they did was beyond dangerous, and to them, it was nothing.

Gloria punched the locker across from the principal's office.

"_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh_

_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh_

_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh!_"

"Gloria!" Principal Ellison boomed. "In my office _now_!"

Gloria shrugged and walked in. She turned the plastic chair around and sat in it backwards.

"Long time, no see, Carl," she greeted him, holding out her hand to him. Principal Ellison shook his head and read over a very thick file.

"You've been back two days, and already you're called down to my office," he said. "It says here that this time..." Gloria blocked out the sound of his voice. She was too angry to hear his words. She had done nothing wrong, so why was he punishing her.

"_Violence is an energy  
Against the enemy  
Well, violence is an energy, right_

_Bring on the fury  
The choir infantry  
Revolt against the honor to obey_

_Overthrow the effigy  
The vast majority  
We're burning down the foreman of control!_"

"Gloria!" Principal Ellison shouted. Gloria snapped out of her daze and blinked at him. "You do realize how damaged your future has become because of the havoc you've caused? If you don't get your ass back in gear then you'll end up..."

"_Silence is the enemy  
Against your urgency  
So rally up the demons of your soul_

_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh_

_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh!_"

"You're suspended for ten days," Principal Ellison said, "for causing a riot in the cafeteria today with your little stunt."

"That's total bullshit!" Gloria cried.

"Keep it up and I'll add more for your foul mouth."

Gloria stood up on her chair.

"_Insurgency will rise  
When the blood's been sacrificed  
Don't be blinded by the lights in your eyes!_"

"Gloria, you're skating on thin ice right now," the principal warned.

"Aren't I always?" Gloria retorted. "I mean, Jesus Christ, how many days have you people _let_ me be in school, twelve? Give me a break."

"Then that's another five days for being a smart-ass."

"What the hell?!"

"Six!"

"Fine, then let's make this worse!" Gloria jumped from the chair onto Ellison's desk, kicking over her file and everything else on the surface.

"_Well, violence is an energy, ohaooh  
From here to Eternity  
Well, violence is an energy, ohaooh  
Silence is the enemy_

_So give me, give me revolution!_"

"OUT!" Ellison screamed.

"With pleasure!" Gloria spat. She hopped down and slammed the door open. Students in classrooms peeked out of doorways to see the ruckus. Most rolled their eyes when they saw Gloria.

"Of course, I should've known _she_ started something," one girl called out in a snobbish tone. "Once a little girl, always Little Girl." Gloria, knowing that she was already dancing on the edge, walked up to the girl and kissed her. Said girl screeched and ran to the nearest restroom. Gloria, however, giggled at the disgust cast over her peers.

"_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh_

_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh_

_Do you know the enemy  
Do you know your enemy  
Well gotta know the enemy, ohaooh!_"

She kicked the cafeteria doors open and slid on her knees to the middle of the room. The rest of the Dazers grinned, knowing that they were going to be departing soon. They helped Gloria to her feet and back on the table.

"_Overthrow the effigy  
The vast majority  
We're burning down the foreman of control_

_Silence is the enemy  
Against your urgency  
So rally up the demons of your soul!_"

"I'm bored," Gloria announced to her friends. "Let's go." She was lifted off the table with the help of Angel Blue and Rusty James before she led the group out the double doors.

No one else took notice of Christian, who was following them from a distance.


	4. ¡Viva La Gloria!

**HEROES AND CONS - ¡VIVA LA GLORIA!**

Christian followed the Dazers for at least an hour. He walked past his own street too, but they kept on going. When the hell were they going to finally stop? Honestly, he didn't care when, since they haven't even noticed his presence yet. Finally, they all crossed the railroad tracks and slipped into an abandoned lot. Curious, Christian slipped inside behind them. All he saw was a few ratty mattresses, a worn couch, a refrigerator, and a long coffee table. He wondered what a group of six teens could possibly do in a place like this. That is, until Gloria ran past him and climbed up a ladder. Naturally, he followed.

On the roof, Christian hid behind a dresser and watched as Gloria sat on the edge of the building. He didn't know what she was doing, but he knew she was doing _something_.

"_Hey Gloria?  
Are you standing close to edge?  
Lookout to the setting sun  
The brink of your vision  
Eternal youth is a landscape of your life_

_The cracks of my skin can prove  
As the years will testify  
Say you prayers and light a fire  
We're gonna start a war  
Your slogan's a gun for hire  
It's what we've waited for_

_Hey Gloria_

_This is why we were on the edge  
The fight of our lives been drawn to this undying love..._"

"Who the hell are you?"

Christian suppressed a yelp of surprise and whirled to see Rusty James and Angel Blue staring at the stranger in their midst.

"Who the hell are you?" the latter repeated.

"Christian," was his response.

"Hey, wait, you're that new kid," Rusty James said. "You sat with the blondes, right?"

"Sadly. But when I saw you guys ditching, I followed."

The other two boys laughed. "Really now?" Angel Blue asked.

"Yeah," Christian answered, his face turning bright pink. "I wanted to meet you guys. You seem... different."

"That's an understatement," Rusty James snorted. "We're the underbelly, the ones your mother warned you about. Most kids avoid us like the plague... but you're different, too."

"Maybe he's one of us," Angel Blue wondered.

As the two boys discussed the possibility of adding a new man to their small group, Christian turned back to see that Gloria was gone. He ran to the end of the rooftop and saw no evidence of her jumping off. She'd just... jumped off.

"_Gloria! Viva la Gloria!  
You blast your name in graffiti on the walls  
Falling through broken glass that's slashing through your spirit  
I can hear it like a jilted crowd_

_Gloria! Where are you Gloria?  
You found a home in all your scars and ammunition  
You made your bed in salad days amongst the ruins  
Ashes to ashes of our youth_."

"So that's why you're here?" Rusty questioned. "Gloria?"

Christian sighed and nodded. "Yeah. She just stared at me with these eyes, and I had to follow."

Angel smirked. "Follow us. You'll have to deal with her before you can join us anyway." The two friends grabbed Christian and brought him back inside.

"_She smashed her knuckles into winter  
As autumn wind fades into black  
She is the saint of all the sinners  
The one that's fallen through the cracks  
So don't put away your burning light_

_Gloria! Where are you Gloria?  
Don't lose your faith to your lost naiveté  
Weather the storm and don't look back on last November  
When your banners were burning down._"

"Hey, Gloria," Rusty said, "we got someone who wants to meet you."

Gloria stopped her conversation with the girls to see who Rusty was talking about. Her lips curled into a smile when she spotted Christian. "Thanks, X," she replied. To Christian, she asked, "And you are?"

"Christian," the stranger answered. "I, uh, saw you guys in school, and I'm new here, and, well... I don't want to be near those blonde clones."

The girls giggled at Christian's remark. Gloria had to smile. "I don't blame you," she said. "You'll fit right in. Stay put, me and Baby Eyes gotta get some things so we can... inaugurate you." Amy followed Gloria to an unseen part of the abandoned lot. Angel and Rusty joined Ashley and Amanda. Christian stared at the door Gloria walked through, awaiting her return.

"_Gloria! Viva la Gloria!  
Send me your amnesty down to the broken-hearted  
Bring us the seasons that we will always remember  
Don't let the bonfires go out_

_So Gloria_

_Send out your message of the light  
That shadows in the night  
Gloria, where's your undying love?  
Tell me the story of your life  
Your life-_"

Christian choked when he saw the white powder in the baggies in Amy's hands when the girls returned.


	5. Before the Lobotomy

**HEROES AND CONS - BEFORE THE LOBOTOMY**

"Here here!" Gloria announced. She stood on the table, holding a beer bottle over Christian's head. The others stood in front of them. Christian tried to remain calm, although his eyes were still on the baggie in Amy's grip.

"Here here!" the others called.

"Now, before we christen thee into our humble group, we need to pick a new name for him," the leader continued. "Any suggestions?" Her five friends each drew blanks.

"Wait!" A small blonde boy crawled in through a tiny window and ran over to the group. "Guys!"

"Who's that?" Christian asked.

"Train," Ashley answered when the boy jumped in her arms. This kid had to be no older than twelve, and definitely didn't belong here. It was safe to assume that not all rumors spread about the Dazers were false.

"Johnny and Tunny left," Train said. He stared at the ground and shook his head. "We lost our Jesus of Suburbia."

"Really?" Gloria wondered aloud, grinning at Christian. "That's perfect!"

"What is?" the new boy asked.

"That's you. You're our new Jesus. That's your name for now on."

"Here here!" the others called. Gloria opened the beer bottle and forced half of its contents down Christian's throat. He gagged and shoved her off.

"What the heck?!" he spat.

"Relax," Gloria coaxed. "This is your christening, Jesus." She sat down on his lap and continued to pour beer in his mouth, while Amy prepared lines on a mirror. Gloria moved Christian in front of it and said, "You have to." Nervous, Christian gulped, but he took a straw and snorted the first line. The others cheered in response.

"How long till this kicks in?" he asked.

"Just wait," Gloria answered. She smiled and lied him down on the couch.

"_Dreaming, I was only dreaming  
Of another place and time  
Where my family's from_

_Singing, I can hear them singing  
When the rain had washed away  
All these scattered dreams_

_Dying, everyone's reminded  
Hearts are washed in misery  
Drenched in gasoline_

_Laughter, there is no more laughter  
Songs of yesterday now live in the underground..._"

* * *

The rest became a blur for everyone. Empty bottles and tiny traces of various drugs are spread out over the surfaces of furniture and Amanda's stomach as well, which Rusty had dared Amy to snort coke off of her.

"Welcome to our group, Christian," Train told the new Jesus.

"How old are you?" Christian asked before giggling. Train ignored the question and pretended to knight the wasted teen with an empty vodka bottle.

"_Life before the lobotomy  
Christian sang the eulogy  
Sign my love a lost memory  
From the end of the Century._"

Gloria, Amy, Amanda, and Ashley jumped onto the couch next to the boys.

"_Well it's enough to make you sick  
To cast a stone and throw a brick  
When the sky is falling down  
It burned your dreams into the ground._"

"Dude, what's in this water?" Christian cackled. The girls laughed too, amused at his state of mind. Rusty and Angel jumped onto the coffee table and tried to get Christian's attention, failing miserably.

"He's so fucking stoned," Angel laughed. Rusty nodded in agreement and the two smirked at Christian.

"_Christian's lesson  
Is what he's been sold  
We are normal and self-controlled  
Remember to learn to forget  
Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes._"

Christian pushed one of the girls off of his lap - at this point, everything was a hazy image - and tried to stand up before falling on the ground.

"_Well I'm not stoned, I'm just fucked up  
I got so high, I can't stand up  
I'm not cursed 'cause I've been blessed  
I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess._"

Soon, the others were lying around him on the ground, staring at the ceiling, minus the barely tipsy Train, who shook his head at his friends' typical behavior.

"_Like refugees  
We're lost like refugees  
Like refugees  
We're lost like refugees  
The brutality of reality  
Is the freedom that keeps me from..._"

* * *

Christian woke up and looked around. He was hanging off the couch next to Gloria. Angel was spread out across the table. Amy and Amanda were both curled up next to Rusty. Ashley had her grip on Train. Their Jesus rubbed his head and groaned. How long had he been here? What day was it? He didn't get much further when Gloria's arms unconsciously wrapped around him and hugged his back to her chest. Christian couldn't complain with that and lied his head back down.

"_Dreaming, I was only dreaming  
Of another place and time  
Where my family's from_

_Singing, I can hear them singing  
When the rain had washed away  
All these scattered dreams_

_Dying, everyone's reminded  
Hearts are washed in misery  
Drenched in gasoline_

_Laughter, there is no more laughter  
Songs of yesterday now live in the underground._"


	6. Christian's Inferno

**HEROES AND CONS - CHRISTIAN'S INFERNO**

"Dudes, I got rejected," Christian announced at lunch. He shoved an envelope in his bookbag and put his head on the table.

"Rejected?" Gloria snorted. "In order for that to happen you have to ask me out first." The others laughed at the joke.

"Not by you." Christian pulled out the envelope again and slid it over to Gloria. "By NYU." The others read the letter and sure enough their Jesus had been rejected by NYU.

"Fuck that," Amy said. "Who needs education and all the shit that comes with it?"

"Then why do you come to school?"

"Because I get bored sometimes."

"And she blows guys between classes," Angel teased. Amy scowled and punched his arm.

"This was my dream," Christian continued. "I mean, I've been working for years to get into NYU. It's my dream school..." He snatched the letter back and tore it in half. "Now I fucked it up, and it only took me three months to screw up seventeen years of hard work."

"Aw, don't worry about it Jesus," Gloria cooed. She stood up and moved behind Christian to hug him from behind. "We still accept you as one of the coolest guys we know."

"I don't know how that's supposed to make up for the fact that one of the most prestigious schools in America just rejected me."

"Because high or sober, we still love you."

"Hey, preppies to your left," Amy announced. Everyone looked to see a group of three blondes in short skirts and tank tops walking by, flipping their hair at the table in disgust.

"Wanna see if their heads fit in the toilet bowls?" Amanda asked.

"I call watching the door," Ashley said. The four girls followed the blondes, but not before Gloria kissed and lightly slapped Christian's cheek. He watched as she walked away. The bell rang and she was soon lost in the crowd of bleached hair and tan skin. He was about to stand up before pulled back on his chair by Angel and Rusty.

"You like Gloria," they both said simultaneously.

"What?" Christian asked.

"We've noticed," Angel said.

"It's too obvious," Rusty added.

"Whatever," Christian muttered. He took his letter and continued ripping it into shreds, growing increasingly agitated with himself with each tear.

"_I got under the grip  
Between this modern hell  
Got the rejection letter in the mail  
And it was already ripped to shreds_

_Seasons in a ruin and this bitter pill is chased with blood  
There's fire in my veins and it's pouring out like a flood_."

Angel and Rusty took the pieces of paper and threw them in handfuls over Christian.

"_Wooaahhooohh! Christian's Inferno!  
Wooaahhooohh! Christian's Inferno!_"

Christian stood up and walked down the hallway. Whenever someone was in his way, they were shoved aside, and then had to dodge Angel and Rusty too.

"_This diabolic state is gracing my existence  
Like a catastrophic baby  
Maybe,maybe you're the chemical reaction  
I'm the atom bomb  
I'm the chosen one  
Toxin your reservoir  
And then return man to ape_."

Angel and Rusty walked ahead of Christian and led him toward where the girls were.

"_Wooaahhooohh! Christian's Inferno!  
Wooaahhooohh! Christian's Inferno!_

_Wooaahhooohh! Christian's Inferno  
Wooaahhooohh! Christian's Inferno!_"

Soon, they reached the girls' bathroom, just as the three blondes from earlier ran out with their heads soaked, each one screaming their heads off. The girls of the Dazers walked out laughing and high-fiving. Just then, Christian's phone rang. He reached into his pocket and saw that he had a new text. He read it and nearly fell over.

"Jesus?" Gloria asked. "Are you alright?"

She didn't get an answer. Christian was already running out of the building.


	7. Last Night on Earth

**HEROES AND CONS - LAST NIGHT ON EARTH**

Christian ran. It was the only thing he could do. His sneakers pounded against the cracked pavement. His heart was racing. Sweat dripped down his face and arms. Any car driving on the road steered around him. He didn't care if he was run over, or even killed. He ran up his driveway and burst through the front door. His mother was sitting on the couch, crying into a tissue.

"Mom?" he asked weakly. "Is it true?"

"Yes," she answered. "I just got the call. Your father was..." She began crying harder. "There was a suicide bombing in his region. He was injured... they don't know what's going to happen to him." His mother fell on her side and sobbed into the cushions. Christian slowly backed out of the house before running away again. But instead of running to school, he ran to the lot. He climbed in through a window and leaned against the crumbling bricks. It was too much for him to handle. At least here he could let himself cry in peace.

"Christian?" Christian looked up to see Gloria standing by the couch. She walked up to him and sat down beside him. "Are you okay?" she asked "You kind of ran out really fast, so I came here. I thought you'd end up here one way or another. So I beat you here." She rested her hand on his shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

Christian really didn't want to remind himself of what had happened. But something inside of him made him start confessing. "My dad's fighting in the war, and there was a suicide bombing," he said. "He's hurt. He's hurt really bad. And I... I don't know what to do anymore." He grabbed Gloria and held her close. She didn't do anything but let him let go.

Meanwhile, Amy, Amanda, and Ashley were watching from the catwalk above them, passing a bottle of whiskey between the three. "Aw, look, how cute is that!" Amanda gushed.

"And sad," Ashley added.

"Does this mean they're together or something?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"Sh!" Amy hushed them so she could hear the couple down below.

"I wish I would've been nicer to him before he left," Christian sobbed.

"It's not your fault," Gloria soothed. "War is a terrible time for everyone."

Amy smiled and leaned a bit over the edge to watch them closer.

"_I text a postcard sent to you  
Did it go through?  
Sending all my love to you  
You are the moonlight of my life every night  
Giving all my love to you._"

"Please don't leave," Christian whimpered.

"I won't," Gloria promised.

Now Ashley smiled at the two.

"_My beating heart belongs to you  
I walked for miles 'til I found you  
I'm here to honor you  
If I lose everything in the fire  
I'm sending all my love to you._"

"I'm glad you're here," Christian said. "I don't think I'd be able to get through this without you."

"Aw!" Amanda cooed.

"_With every breath that I'm worth here on Earth  
I'm sending all my love to you  
So if you dare to second guess you can rest assured  
That all my love's for you._"

"Any time," Gloria whispered.

The three girls above them grinned at the scene taking place.

"_My beating heart belongs to you  
I walked for miles 'til I found you  
I'm here to honor you  
If I lose everything in the fire  
I'm sending all my love to you_."

Gloria pulled away from Christian and pressed their foreheads together.

"_My beating heart belongs to you_."

Christian took a deep breath and stared at Gloria.

"_I walked for miles 'til I found you_."

They held hands and smiled shyly at each other.

"_I'm here to honor you  
If I lose everything in the fire  
Did I ever make it through?_"

Gloria and Christian pressed their lips together, their kiss slowly becoming more fiery and passionate. From above, the three girls giggled and enjoyed the show.


	8. East Jesus Nowhere

**CHARLATANS AND SAINTS - EAST JESUS NOWHERE**

For days, Christian refused to leave the confines of his room. A few times, Gloria snuck into his room and tried to talk him out of the house. How she figured out where he lived, he'll never know. But it didn't work. He couldn't face the world anymore. At least, not the real world. The one where fathers get killed in bombing incidents in the Middle East in a war that wasn't really necessary. It was too much. Who could he rely to get him through these hardships?

The one person who has always been there for him.

An hour later, Christian found himself in the Mary Help of Christian Church, staring at the large crucifix hanging on the back wall. There were about ten other people spread out among the benches, reading Bibles or praying in silence. Christian walked right up to the front and knelt before Jesus.

"Man, I don't remember the last time I came here," he said. "I've been a really bad place the past few weeks. My dad..." Christian paused to collect himself. "He needs you to look over him. _I_ need you to look over him. If he doesn't make it through..." No. He couldn't let himself think that was a possibility.

A man stood next to him. He had chopped dark hair and a thick layer of eyeliner around his piercing eyes. He was wringing his hands as he mumbled something. He then turned to Christian. "You having a rough year, too?" he asked.

"Yeah," Christian replied. He stood up and moved to sit on the nearest bench.

"I feel ya." The man sat next to him. "My girlfriend's pregnancy is driving me insane."

Christian raised an eyebrow. "I thought-"

"Don't finish that sentence. Pregnant women are a nightmare, especially when they're drinking too." The man ran a hand through his hair before offering it to Christian. "Will."

Christian shook it. "Christian. I'm new around here."

"So, Christian, what brings you to Jingletown?"

"My dad. He's fighting in Iraq... Well, he was until some suicide bomber blew up in his area."

Will's eyes widened. "No shit. Same thing just happened to my friend Tunny."

Christian let out a forced laugh. "Small world." He looked around the church and shook his head. "So much shit has happened to me. I don't know if I'll ever be forgiven for the fucked up shit that I've done."

"Me either, man," Will said. "I never told anyone, but I used to be a devout Christian. Church three times a week, choir boy, all that shit. But when I came out here, I was done with that shit, and now look. I drink all the time, I'm having a baby out of wedlock, I'm a stoner, I haven't talked to my family in over a year... Damn, how things have changed."

"Yeah." Christian looked around the church. "It's like Jingletown fucks everyone up."

Will snorted. "You think this is bad, try looking around the 7-Eleven." He jumped up on the bench and turned to face the other strangers.

"_Raise your hands now to testify  
Your confession will be crucified  
You're a sacrificial suicide  
Like a dog that's been sodomized  
__Well-_!"

The others jumped up.

"_Stand! Up!_"

"_All the white boys!_"

"_Sit! Down!_"

"_And the black girls!_"

"_Stand! Up!_"

"_You're the soldiers!_"

"_Sit! Down!_"

"_Of the new world!_"

Christian caught on and stood up next to his new friend.

"_Put your faith in a miracle  
And it's non-denominational  
Join the choir we will be singing  
In the church of wishful thinking!_"

They put their arms around each others as the other churchgoers danced with Bibles in their hands.

"_A fire burns today  
Of blasphemy and genocide  
The sirens of decay  
Will infiltrate the faith fanatics!_"

Will stood in front of the crucifix and posed in the same way Jesus Christ was.

"_Oh, bless me Lord for I have sinned  
It's been a lifetime since I last confessed  
I threw my crutches in 'The river of a shadow of doubt'  
And I'll be dressed up in my Sunday best._"

Christian laughed and shoved him over. He dropped to his knees and put his hands together, staring up at the ceiling.

"_Say a prayer for the family  
Drop a coin for humanity  
Ain't this uniform so flattering?  
I never asked you a god damn thing!_"

Everyone jumped up and ran out the front doors.

"_A fire burns today  
Of blasphemy and genocide  
The sirens of decay  
Will infiltrate the faith fanatics!_"

Will and Christian high-fived, and the latter turned around to be face-to-face with a confused Gloria.

"What happened to never leaving the house?" she asked.

"I've changed my mind," Christian answered. He tried to walk away, but Gloria grabbed his arm and yanked him close.

"Don't test me," she whispered in his ear. He tugged at his sleeve as her grip on him tightened. "Second guess me." He freed himself and she grabbed his wrist. "Protest me." He slapped her hand and she grabbed the front of his shirt violently. She pulled him close and hissed, "You. Will. Disappear."

He fought her off and smirked.

"_I want to know who's allowed to breed  
All the dogs who never learned to read  
Missionary politicians  
And the cops of a new religion!_"

Gloria shook her head and stepped closer. It was impossible to tell whether she was hurt or outraged.

"_A fire burns today  
Of blasphemy and genocide  
The sirens of decay  
Will infiltrate the inside..._

_Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!_"

With that, she flipped him off and stalked away.

"Dude, what was that about?" Will asked.

Christian shrugged. "I wish I knew."


	9. Peacemaker

**CHARLATANS AND SAINTS - PEACEMAKER**

Christian chased after Gloria. "Wait!" he called out. "What's the matter with me?"

"What's the matter with me?" Gloria spat. She turned around and laughed in Christian's face. "You're the one who locked himself up, Jesus, and now you're walking around with Will of all people." She shook her head. "Am I nothing to you?"

"What? You mean so much to me! I was just in a bad place, and whenever I've lost myself, I go to church. I just needed some time to figure out what to ask for exactly."

This made Gloria furious. "And while you're there begging your so-called God for help, remember that he supposedly was the one who blew up Daddy dearest in the first place!"

"I should've known you were a non-believer," Christian said. "You're the one who distracted me from being a good person. I had to sober up to realize it, too!"

"You could've said no!" Gloria screamed. "You can't blame this shit on me! You chose to get high with the rest of us. You had the option to walk out the door from the start!"

"I wish I would have!" Gloria was definitely hurt now, but that didn't change how Christian felt. He turned around and started walking back to the church.

"_Well I've got a fever  
A non-believer  
I'm in a state of grace  
For I am the caesar  
I'm gonna seize the day  
Well call of the banshee - Hey, hey!  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey  
As God as my witness the infidels are gonna pay!_"

Suddenly he was whirled around to face Gloria. Mascara-stained tears ran down the side of her face, but she didn't care. She was too angry to give a damn.

"_Well call the assassin  
The orgasm  
A spasm of love and hate  
For what will divide us?  
The righteous and the meek  
Well call of the wild - Hey, hey!  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey  
Death to the girl  
At the end of the serenade!_"

They both stood inches from the other, their nostrils flaring and their patience wearing thin.

"_Vendetta sweet vendetta  
This Beretta of the night  
This fire and the desire  
Shots ringing out on a holy parasite._"

"You know what?" Christian asked. "Fuck you, fuck this, I'm out." He tried to walk away, but Gloria didn't let him get far. He was still questioning where she got all her strength from for being a one-hundred-and-six-pound girl who was barely over five feet tall.

"You don't get to walk away after that," she said.

"_I am a killjoy from Detroit  
I drink from a well of rage  
I feed of the weakness  
With all my love  
Call up the captain - Hey, hey!  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey  
Death of the lover that you were dreaming of!_"

"After what you've put me through, I think you more than deserve it!" Christian retorted.

"_This is a stand off a Molotov  
Cocktail on the house  
You thought I was write off  
You better think again  
Call the peacemaker - Hey, hey!  
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey  
I'm gonna sent you back to the place where it all began!_"

As they both headed the same direction down the road, they continued yelling at each other.

"_Vendetta sweet vendetta  
This Beretta of the night  
This fire and the desire  
Shots ringing out on a holy parasite_

_Well now the caretakers_  
_The undertaker_  
_Now I'm gonna go out_  
_And get the peacemaker_  
_This is the neo_  
_St. Valentine's massacre_  
_Well call up the Gaza - Hey, hey!_  
_Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey_  
_Death to the ones at the end of the serenade_  
_Well, death to the ones at the end of the ..._  
_Serenade!_"

"I don't ever want to see your face again, Jesus!" With that, Gloria slapped him and stormed off.

"Whatever, Little Girl!" Christian let out a loud scream in rage and stalked off in the other direction.


	10. Last of the American Girls

**CHARLATANS AND SAINTS - LAST OF THE AMERICAN GIRLS**

Whenever Gloria saw Christian in school after their fight, she constantly avoided him. He tried going out of his way to run into her, but she'd always manage to get around it. If he came to the lot, she hid in Train's hideaway spot, knowing he wouldn't know where to find her. She couldn't hide forever, but for now, she could try.

During lunch, Christian was back on his own, sitting with the two kids from Day One, while staring at the group he admired so much from afar.

"I don't know what made you go to them," the boy said. "They're pretty weird."

"Like that's not the understatement of the century," the girl commented. Christian wanted to defend his friends, but he didn't have it in him to do so.

"Hey, fuckface, why are you ignoring us?" Rusty James asked as he took the chair next to Christian.

"Yeah, I'm getting fucking annoyed with the constant girl-talk over there," Angel Blue added. The boy and girl groaned at the presence of the two outcasts and migrated to another table.

"Why are you guys talking to me?" Christian asked. "Didn't Gloria tell you about our falling out?"

"All I know is that she's pissed and that she needs to get over herself. So what if you went out of the house? You needed to eventually."

"I pretty much told her off."

"Never mind, you should've just stayed inside."

"You're one complicated dude, Jesus," Rusty said. "Little Girl'll get over it eventually and move on."

"What makes you say that? Are you sure she won't kill me in my sleep?"

"You New Yorkers are fucked up."

"Look at her," Angel said. He pointed at Gloria, who was reapplying eyeliner.

"_She puts her makeup on  
Like graffiti on the walls of the heartland  
She's got her little book of conspiracies right in her hand  
She is a paranoid endangered species headed into extinction  
She is one of a kind  
She's the last of the American Girls_."

Gloria put away her makeup and leaned to Ashley. The other girl whispered something in her ear, and it must've been funny, because Gloria giggled.

"I'm not seeing it," Christian said.

"You're so fucking retarded," Rusty said.

"_She wears her overcoat for the coming of the nuclear winter  
She is riding her bike like a fugitive of critical mass  
She's on a hunger strike for the ones who won't make it for dinner  
She makes enough to survive for a holiday of working class  
She's a runaway of the establishment incorporated  
She won't cooperate  
She's the last of the American Girls_."

"I don't know what kind of melodramatic shit you look for in New York, but here, we get over things," Angel said.

"And what if she gets over me?" Christian asked.

Rusty and Angel rolled their eyes. "She's a girl, she won't!" they exclaimed.

"_She plays her vinyl records singing songs on the eve of destruction  
She's a sucker for all the criminals breaking the laws  
She will come in first for the end of western civilization  
She's an endless war, she's a hero for the lost cause  
Like a hurricane in the heart of the devastation  
She's a natural disaster  
She's the last of the American Girls._"

"So after I told her off and lied to her, I should expect her to come running back to me like nothing ever happened?" Christian asked.

"Dude, that's literally what we've been telling you the whole time," Rusty said.

"Like I said, melodramatic," Angel snorted.

"_She puts her makeup on  
Like graffiti on the walls of the heartland  
She's got her little book of conspiracies right in her hand  
She will come in first for the end of western civilization  
She's a natural disaster  
She's the last of the American Girls_."

The bell rang and a sea of blonde filed out of the cafeteria. After the crowd cleared, Gloria tried to leave, but was intercepted by Christian at the door.

He took a deep breath and said, "I need to talk to you."


	11. Murder City

**CHARLATANS AND SAINTS - MURDER CITY**

"What?" Gloria asked. Christian took her arm and dragged her to the nearest janitor's closet. He shoved her inside before following and shutting the door behind him.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"I'm waiting."

"I know that our fight was the most pointless moment of our lives, but I need to ask you to do something for me." He took a deep breath. "You need to get clean."

"What?"

"Look, I think you have a problem. Most of the times we were together, we were shooting up or getting wasted, and I can't be living that kind of life."

"Don't you dare try shoving your religious bullshit down my throat, Jesus." Gloria left the closet, knowing fully well that she was being followed.

"It's got nothing to do with my religious beliefs and everything to do with your self-destruction," Christian snapped. "If you don't stop, you'll end up selling yourself on the side of the streets for crack money!" He was soon caught off-guard when Gloria whirled around and punched him in the face. He held his cheek and ran into the nearby bathroom. Gloria cursed under her breath and searched her bag for her pack of cigarettes. She came up empty-handed. She threw her bag on the floor in frustration and leaned against the white bricks.

"_Desperate but not hopeless  
I feel so useless in the murder city  
Desperate but not helpless  
The clock strikes midnight in the murder city_

_I'm wide awake after the riot_  
_This demonstration of our anguish_  
_This empty laughter has no reason_  
_Like a bottle of your favourite poison_  
_We are the last call and we're so pathetic_."

She saw Rusty and Angel come around the corner, goofing around as usual. Their smiles fell when they saw Gloria.

"Bathroom," she answered without letting them speak first. The boys went into the bathroom. Gloria gritted her teeth when she heard Christian's crying.

"_Desperate but not hopeless  
I feel so useless in the murder city  
Desperate but not helpless  
The clock strikes midnight in the murder city_

_Christian's crying in the bathroom_  
_And I just want to bum a cigarette_  
_We've come so far,we've been so wasted_  
_It's written all over our faces_  
_We are the last call and we're so pathetic_."

"There you are!" Amanda said, walking over to her friend. "We were lifting wallets off of rich girls! What the hell are you doing?"

"Got a cigarette?" Gloria asked.

"Not on me, but I'll try to find one in a purse." With that, Amanda ran off. Gloria punched the wall. She needed nicotine when she wasn't high. But that didn't make her an addict to anything. She wasn't going to let Christian get in her head like that.

"_Desperate but not hopeless  
I feel so useless in the murder city  
Desperate but not helpless  
The clock strikes midnight in the murder city_

_Desperate_  
_I feel so_  
_Desperate_  
_The clock strikes midnight in the murder city_."

"You wanna say anything to him?" Rusty asked her as he emerged from the bathroom. Gloria hesitated before shaking her head. Rusty raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Your fist did a number on his face."

"I... I..." Gloria turned around and ran.


	12. ¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)

**CHARLATANS AND SAINTS - ¿VIVA LA GLORIA? (LITTLE GIRL)**

Christian spent the rest of his day with a large purplish-black bruise swelling on his face. Was he mad at Gloria? Not as much as he was hurt by her actions. Did she really think he was all about religion and nothing else? Maybe he was back in New York, but now he was different.

But something made no sense to him. She had started acting this way when she saw him with Will. So was he the problem, or was it Will? He didn't know her past, but now he knew it had something to do with his new friend.

At the end of the day, he tried to intercept her as she left school. He did find Amy, who said that they were all heading to the mall to destroy the clothes at the Abercrombie & Fitch, but she said Gloria had been gone for a while. Christian nodded and ran to the one place he knew she was - the lot.

He snuck in through the area of missing bricks. He crawled around the plaster and wires lying around until he was next to the ladder that led the to catwalk. He climbed up and walked across it until he saw Gloria lying on the couch, crying. Train ran up to her and whispered something in her ear. She shook her head and he ran off. Christian felt his heart break at the sight of her falling apart.

"_Little girl, little girl, why are you crying?  
Inside your restless soul your heart is dying?  
Little one, little one, your soul is purging  
Of love and razor blades your blood is surging_

_Runaway_  
_From the river to the street and find yourself with your face in the gutter_  
_You're a stray for the salvation army_  
_There is no place like home when you got no place to go_."

Gloria stood up and reached underneath a couch cushion. She pulled out a mirror razor blade, and her vial of cocaine. Christian wanted to turn his head away, but he watched her make her lines and snort them without a straw. He knew she was a junkie, but he didn't know how bad she was. He wanted to jump down (despite the fact he was about fifteen feet above the ground) and stop her from ever using again. But he couldn't. She was too stubborn.

"_Little girl, little girl, your life is calling  
The charlatans and saints of your abandon  
Little one, little one, the sky is falling  
Your lifeboat of deception is now sailing  
In the wake all the way no rhyme or reason  
Your bloodshot eyes will show your heart of treason_

_Little girl, little girl, you're dirty liar_  
_You're just a junkie preaching to the choir_

_Runaway_  
_From the river to the street and find yourself with your face in the gutter_  
_You're a stray for the salvation army_  
_There is no place like home when you got no place to go._"

That's it. Christian wasn't going to let her continue to throw her life away. He ran back down and right to Gloria's side. She was in a daze, barely able to comprehend that someone was right next to her. Blood trickled out of her nose. Mascara ran in streaks down the side of her face. It was too much for Christian to handle.

"_The traces of blood always follow you home like the mascara tears from your getaway  
You're walking with blisters and running with shears  
So unholy sister of grace!_"

Gloria was finally clear-minded enough to take in her surroundings. "Jesus?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's me, Gloria," Christian said. "Christ, what the hell are you thinking?"

"No, no, don't," Gloria cried. She shoved Christian away and started running. Christian followed her and caught up just as she tripped into the gutter. She curled up in a ball and began to cry. Christian just shook his head.

"_Runaway  
From the river to the street and find yourself with your face in the gutter  
You're a stray for the salvation army  
There is no place like home..._"

He looked over and saw Train. The twelve-year-old had his thumb in his mouth, watching in fear. How could someone so young be subjected to watch this sickening act of self-abuse? Christian sighed and helped Gloria up to her feet. She was so wasted that she couldn't move her legs.


	13. Restless Heart Syndrome

**CHARLATANS AND SAINTS - RESTLESS HEART SYNDROME**

When Gloria woke up, she was instantly blinded by a bright white light. After adjusting to it for a few minutes, she could see that she was in a hospital room. Across the room, she could see a doctor talking to Christian. They kept on looking at her, but neither saw that she was awake. The two men left the room. This was stupid. Gloria wasn't going to stay here. Why would she? There's nothing wrong with her. She ripped the IV out of her arm and started searching for her clothes. Soon, she was wandering the halls of the hospital, holding her boots and wobbling when she stepped with her right leg.

"_I've got a really bad disease  
It's got me begging on my hands and knees  
So, take me to emergency  
Cause something seems to be missing  
Somebody take the pain away  
It's like an ulcer bleeding in my brain  
So send me to the pharmacy so I can lose my memory_

_I'm elated, medicated_  
_Lord knows I tried to find a way to run away_."

She looked around for a sign that led to the entrance. She saw the arrows pointing the way. All around her, she saw other people coming out of rooms. Some of them were wearing clothes while others still had hospital gowns on. They followed her as she led the way out.

"_I think they found another cure  
For broken hearts and feeling insecure  
You'd be surprised what I endure  
What makes you feel so self-assured_."

"Hey, look!" a nurse called out. "Someone stop those patients!" A wave of nurses headed toward the group. Gloria quickly ducked into the elevator alone and pressed the button for the lobby. She crouched back against the back wall and stared up at her reflection in the ceiling.

"_I need to find a place to hide  
You never know what could be waiting outside  
The accidents that you could find  
It's like some kind of suicide_

_So what ails you, is what impales you_  
_I feel like I've been crucified to be satisfied_."

The doors slid open to reveal Christian. He raised an eyebrow at Gloria. She stood up and moved around him.

"_I'm a victim of my symptom  
I am my own worst enemy  
You're a victim of your symptom  
You are your own worst enemy  
Know your enemy._"

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "You were just unconscious a few minutes ago!"

"I don't need to be here," Gloria insisted. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"You overdosed on cocaine and passed out in the gutters! Do you know how scared Train was when I had to take you here? I had to call the others to go and comfort him!"

"Fuck off. I don't need you to save me," Gloria said. She continued to wobble away.

"_I'm elated, medicated  
I am my own worst enemy  
So what ails you is what impales you  
You are your own worst enemy  
You're a victim of the system_."

"Then we're not friends anymore, are we?" Christian called out as he chased after her.

Gloria turned around. "No, we're not." With that, she flipped him off and left him feeling heartbroken on the sidewalk.


	14. Horseshoes and Handgrenades

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES**

Ever since Gloria stumbled away from the hospital, Christian had avoided her and the rest of the Dazers. He went through the rest of his sophomore year being a loner, occasionally socializing with the two blondes who wouldn't leave him alone. He even dated the girl, who he eventually learned was named Rachael. It was the biggest mistake he could've ever made. She forced him to buy anniversary presents per month, things with their names and the day they started dating on them, and insisted on him bringing her to the mall, movies, etc. Her friends were twice as annoying, each with high-pitched or nasally voices and whiny attitudes. By the beginning of July, he broke it off with her. She played it off by saying that Christian wasn't good in bed anyway. In his opinion, she barely moved in bed.

On the first day of junior year, Christian tried desperately to find the Dazers. All of this time away from them only made him miss them more when he became single again. He at least thought he'd see Rusty or Angel, but he couldn't find either. At lunch, their old table was occupied with the soccer team.

"Ugh, I am _so_ glad they're gone," the boy said as he sat down across from Christian. He realized he still didn't know the boy's name, and they'd known each other for a year now.

"Me too," Rachael agreed.

"Who's gone?" Christian asked.

"Those God-awful Dazers. They dropped out." Rachael shoved salad in her mouth. "It's about time."

"They dropped out?" Christian asked weakly.

"Why do you look so upset?" the boy asked. "Everyone else is thrilled. Now school won't be so hellish the sixty times they choose to show up every year."

That did it. Christian shoved his tray across the table, knocking both Rachael and her friend's food and mineral water all over their designer clothes. The two blondes screamed and let the entire junior class know what had just happened to them. While their peer laughed at the duo, Christian pushed his chair back and stormed out of the cafeteria. He finally lost his cool. He couldn't take it anymore. These students, this town, knowing his true friends may be gone forever, Gloria running through his mind nonstop, and not to mention his father, who was still in a coma all these months later. It was just too much.

"_I'm not fucking around  
I think I'm coming out  
All the deceivers and cheaters  
I think we've got a bleeder right now  
Want you to slap me around?  
Want you to knock me out?  
Well, you missed me kissed me  
Now you better kick me down_

_Maybe you're the runner-up_  
_But the first one to lose the race_  
_Almost only really counts in_  
_Horseshoes and Handgrenades!_"

"Christian!" he heard Rachael screech. He decided to ignore her, but seconds later, she jumped on his back and tackled him to the ground. "You prick!" she screamed as she slapped the back of his head. "How dare you!"

"Fuck off!" Christian stood up, causing Rachael to fall on her back. She started stamping her feet and threw a tantrum on the floor. Christian shook his head and ripped a poster off the wall while he walked away.

"_I'm gonna burn it all down  
I'm gonna rip it out  
Well everything that you employ  
Was meant for me to destroy to the ground now  
So don't fuck me around because I'll shoot you down  
I'm gonna drink,fight and fuck and pushing my luck all the time now_

_Maybe you're the runner-up_  
_But the first one to lose the race_  
_Almost only really counts in_  
_Horseshoes and Handgrenades!_"

How did he come to this? First he fucked up his grades during his first and second semesters last year, then he almost became an addict to a variety of drugs, and to top it all off, he'd fallen for the girl who made all these bad things happen to him.

Now he was a new person. He didn't give two shits about school. His priorities have changed. Forget New York, forget leaving Jingletown. He needed to find out the truth about Gloria.

Then he was gonna get her back.

"_Demolition,self-destruction  
What to annihilate, the age-old contradiction  
Demolition,self-destruction  
What to annihilate, the old age_

_I'm not fucking around_  
_I think I'm coming out_  
_I'm a hater, a traitor_  
_In a pair of Chuck Taylors right now_  
_I'm not fucking around!_"

"_Christian, report to the principal's office immediately!_" the secretary announced over the announcements. Ironically, Christian was right outside of it. He popped his head inside to see the principal, his face red and beady eyes full of rage.

"If this is how you think you're going to start off the new year..." he began.

"Save your breath," Christian interrupted. "I quit." He flipped off the man and laughed as he ran out of the building. Other students in the halls watched with confusion and disgust. But Christian didn't care. He only had one thing on his mind: Gloria.

"_G-L-O-R-I-A!_"

* * *

_**Now, I'm going to ask something, and I want 100% honesty: What would you think of a sequel? It would have the Idiots and the Dazers together, and it would be the songs from ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!. Just wondering. If you guys are all for it, then I'll do it. I thought I should ask since this is the third and final part of 21st Century Breakdown.**_


	15. The Static Age

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - THE STATIC AGE**

It was a good thing Christian didn't bother searching for Gloria and the Dazers at the lot. If he had, his reaction would've been worse than when Gloria overdosed. All six teens were lying around, one hundred percent high, and almost entirely unresponsive at this point. The only sober one was Train, who had been spending the last few days wandering around town; without Amanda or Gloria constantly nagging him to stay in hiding, he was free to roam around. During his adventures he was able to bring home a stereo and television, along with an extension cord he plugged in to the nearest outlet, almost thirty yards away.

"Finally, something exciting!" Train exclaimed, although he was technically talking to himself. He'd finally found a cable box to connect to the television. He spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out how to before giving up. After all, he was only twelve. He didn't know how to do things like hooking up cable boxes.

"Usually Amanda does these things for me," he muttered to himself. He looked over at Amanda, lying outcold on top of Amy. Train shook his head and tried the stereo.

"Maybe music'll wake 'em up." He couldn't find a decent station that wasn't all static. He looked around. No one even budged. He turned up the stereo as loud as he could. Still nothing.

Now this was just pathetic. He carried the stereo around, holding it in each of their faces and ears. No reaction. He wanted to cry. The thought of being stuck alone was scary enough, but now he wasn't sure if they were even alive at this point.

"_Can you hear the sound of the static noise,blasting out in stereo?  
Cater to the class and the paranoid,music to my nervous system  
Advertising love and religion,murder on the airwaves  
Slogans on the brink of corruption!_"

He went back to the TV. Maybe he could just find some old-timey picture that'd catch their eye. Well, technically, only Rusty had his eyes open, but he wasn't awake. He'd passed out as soon as he shot up. The syringe was still dangling from his forearm. Train couldn't find anything. He tried his hardest not to panic.

"_Visions of blasphemy,war and peace  
Screaming at you_

_I can't see a thing in the video_  
_I can't hear a sound on the radio_  
_in stereo in the static age!_"

Alright, time to panic. Train ran out of the lot and jumped through alleys and abandoned buildings until he found his new favorite playspot - a ditch covered in "junk". Train loved it; for him, it was his personal stash of cool things. He could fall asleep in the car from the 1950s, its leather seats still in tact and the horn still noisy. Old soda bottles were his collectables. One day, they'd be worth more than someone long ago thought they were. Last night, he ran around catching fireflies in an old jar and watched them glow. They were beautiful.

Train slid down until he reached what he considered a word of art - an old washed out billboard advertising Coca Cola, with the doctor dressed in green offering a bottle to passerbyers.

"_Billboard on the rise in the dawn's landscape, working your insanity  
Tragic ala madness and concrete Coca Cola execution  
Conscious on a cross and your hearts in a vice,  
Squeezing out your state of mind  
Are what you own that you cannot buy_

_What a fucking tragedy,strategy_  
_Screaming at you_

_I can't see a thing in the video_  
_I can't hear a sound on the radio_  
_in stereo in the static age!_"

Train also had a pile of rocks, which he threw at the glass containers when he was angry. Like right now. After missing the first four times, he knocked one jar right off its platform (a metal box) and watched it fly into a tree. It smashed into a million pieces the second it collided.

"_Hey, hey it's the static age  
This is how the west was won  
Hey, hey it's the static age millennium!_"

Train threw some more rocks before searching through the garbage again. He found a few thrown away pictures of pretty girls and a picture book before he decided that he would come back another time. He gathered his new belongings and headed home.

"_All I want to know is a god damned thing  
Not what's in the medicine  
All I want to do is I want to breathe, batteries are not included  
What's the latest way that a man can die?  
Screaming hallelujah?  
Singing out 'the dawn's early light'!_"

When he arrived back, he hid his things in a cardboard box and checked back on his friends. They hadn't moved - or even _breathed_, for all he knew - since he'd left. Now this was just ridiculous. He would never understand why they would always get high. They were missing out of the good things in life, such as he ditch of junk.

Now he understood why their new friend Jesus hasn't been around in a while.

He was the lucky one.

"_The silence of the rotten,forgotten  
Screaming at you_

_I can't see a thing in the video_  
_I can't hear a sound on the radio_  
_in stereo in the static age!_"

"Train?" Amanda asked hoarsely. "Where'd the TV come from?"

"You guys brought it here two days ago, remember?" Train lied. Chances were she wouldn't have remembered anyway.

"Oh, okay." She curled up with Amy again. Train sighed. Being a grown-up must be harder than he thought.


	16. 21 Guns

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - 21 GUNS**

He knew the news before the army officials made it to the front door.

Christian sat on the roof and stared down below as his mother met the two men on the concrete walkway that led to the porch. His mother took the flag and broke down right then and there. The two men were emotionless as they turned and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Later, when his mother went inside and cried herself to sleep, Christian walked downstairs and took the folded American flag and ran out of the house.

This couldn't be happening. His father couldn't have died. He was a good man, an honest man, who was defending his country. He didn't deserve to die! And after everything Christian had been through, this was the bitter, crusty icing on top of the miserable, bland cake that was his existence in Jingletown.

He found himself wandering down the streets of Jingletown, not knowing where he was anymore. Not like he cared anymore. What was important anymore?

"_Do you know what's worth fighting for?  
When it's not worth dying for?  
Does it take your breath away and you feel yourself suffocating?  
Does the pain weigh out the pride?  
And you look for a place to hide?  
Did someone break your heart inside,you're in ruins._"

He looked up and found himself outside the church he once had so much faith in.

Just his fucking luck.

"_One, 21 Guns  
Lay down your arms  
Give up the fight  
One, 21 Guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky  
You and I..._"

* * *

Gloria was finally sober enough to function like a normal human being. She let her other friends sleep off their highs and climbed up to the roof. She had a bottle of beer in her hand. After one sip, she actually found the brew to be bitter and disgusting. She spat it out and threw the bottle off the roof. She felt something unfamiliar with this - satisfaction. Not the kind she got from stealing or swirlies, but from... doing what was right.

"_When you're at the end of the road  
And you lost all sense of control  
And your thoughts have taken their toll  
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul  
Your faith walks on broken glass and the hangover doesn't pass  
Nothing's ever built to last, you're in ruins._"

God, how did she end up here? This sweet little girl, the runaway who tried to start anew. Little Girl, trying to make a name for herself, only to run herself into the ground.

"_One, 21 Guns  
Lay down your arms  
Give up the fight  
One, 21 Guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky  
You and I..._"

* * *

Both Christian and Gloria looked up into the sky, as if waiting for some God to come and rescue them from their own hells.

"_Did you try to live on your own?  
When you burned down the house and home?  
Did you stand too close to the fire?  
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone!_"

* * *

Meanwhile, Train was running back from his ditch when he came across something that caught his eye: his picture. not just his picture, but a poster with his face plastered on it. Shit. It was a missing person ad! Train looked up and down the street. There were flyers all over. He did the first thing that came to mind.

Train spent the rest of his day tearing apart, trashing, destroying every last flyer and poster of him.

He finally made it back to the lot. It was too much for him. Someone was looking for him. Was it mother? What would she want with him?

He couldn't go back.

He just couldn't.

"_When it's time to live and let die  
And you can't get another try  
Something inside this heart has died, you're in ruins_."

* * *

All three teens shook their heads and just let loose, screaming and thrashing violently at the air.

"_One, 21 Guns  
Lay down your arms  
Give up the fight  
One, 21 Guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky  
One, 21 Guns  
Lay down your arms  
Give up the fight  
One, 21 Guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky  
You and I..._"

Christian lit the American flag on fire and hung it from a metal pole.

Train went back to his hiding spot, praying no one noticed his absence.

Gloria saw the orange glow in the distance of something burning. She didn't want to know what it was. But it made this cool evening feel a little bit warmer.


	17. American Eulogy

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - AMERICAN EULOGY**

The first thing Christian saw when he came home was a For Sale sign on the front lawn.

"Mom?" he asked as he entered through the front door. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that we're leaving," his mother answered. She was lugging the last of her bags downstairs. "Moving here was a bad idea to begin with. Leaving New York wasn't going to make the memories of your father go away. So we're going back. We'll live in my sister's flat for a while until we can find our own place. I've already called a cab."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't live here anymore." A ticket was slapped into Christian's hands. "I booked you a later flight for six. I'll meet you in New York." Christian's mother quickly left the house as the cab pulled up and honked the horn.

This was how it ended? He'd be going back home? A year ago he'd want to. Now this was his home. He belonged in Jingletown. Sure, he'd fucked up so many times since he came here, but that didn't mean he wanted to anymore. What was left for him in New York? He didn't care about Broadway or Ground Zero or the Big Apple. He cared about one thing.

Gloria.

He packed his things in a bag. The For Sale sign was ripped out of the ground and broken into several parts. The ticket was torn to shreds. Before he ran off for good, Christian walked by the church he'd come to know and rely on. This time, he stayed outside and just stared at the pink building.

"_Sing us a song of the century  
It sings like American Eulogy  
The dawn of my love and conspiracy  
Forgotten hope and the Class of '13  
Tell me a story into that goodnight  
Sing us a song for me..._"


	18. Mass Hysteria

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - MASS HYSTERIA**

Train wandered around town. Naturally, the other Dazers didn't care too much, since they hadn't been conscious enough to remember the stowaway. With his hood up and his sneakers lightly thumping on the sidewalk, Train was nearly invisible in the sea of businesspeople and families surrounding him. It was something he was used to. Being invisible was his job. If he wasn't, he'd be found by his crazy mother, something he wanted to avoid. Suddenly, someone grabbed Train and pulled him into the nearby alley.

"Hey! Hands off!" he demanded. "Who the hell are you?"

"Train, it's Christian," the person said. Train wrestled out of Christian's grasp and spun around to face him.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Train screamed.

"No," Christian answered. "I've been searching for you guys everywhere. I figured that Gloria would kill me if I went to the lot, so I wanted to catch one of you on the street."

"Good luck finding them. They're so high they can barely breathe." Train looked around. "Why aren't you in school? It's like noon."

"I ran out when I realized they all dropped out. Then my mom said she was selling the house and leaving. So I need somewhere to go... or you guys can move in with me."

Train raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there's no For Sale sign letting people know the house is for sale, and it's gonna be pretty hard to find a decent place to live. I mean, the lot is a piece of shit."

Train nodded. "I guess... we'll just have to talk to the others and see. C'mon." Train led Christian back toward the lot. They made it halfway there before Train suddenly stopped in front of the electronics store.

"Why'd you stop?" Christian asked.

"That... that's me," Train answered. He pointed at the television screens. A small boy, maybe nine years old, was pictured in the upper corner, with a news reporter describing Train. Christian's eyes widened.

"Uh oh," he said.

"We need to run," Train said. He glanced around. It seemed like everyone was staring through the dark hood and comparing the boy on the TV to the boy standing in front of it. He started sprinting, with Christian right on his tail.

"_Hysteria, mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!_"

As people jumped aside from the boys, Train's worry increased rapidly.

"_Red alert is the colour of panic  
Elevated to the point of static  
Beating into the hearts of the fanatics  
And the neighborhood's a loaded gun  
Idle thought lead to full-throttle screaming  
And the welfare is asphyxiating  
Mass confusion is all the new age and it's creating a feeding ground for the bottom feeders of hysteria!_"

Soon the two made it to the lot. Just like Train had said, all of the Dazers were lying around. It scared Christian to see them like this. The boys decided to scream to wake them up.

"_Hysteria, mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!_"

Rusty was the first to recognize the foreign voice. He started cackling at the sound of it. One by one, they were all laughing, but none of them were able to understand why. Christian wanted to cry at the sight of this.

"_True sounds of maniacal laughter  
And the deaf-mute is misleading the choir  
The punchline is a natural disaster  
And it's sung by the unemployed  
Fight fire with a riot  
The class war is hanging on a wire because the martyr is a compulsive liar  
When he said, 'It's just a bunch of niggers throwing gas into the ...'_"

Train and Christian shook each Dazer, trying to get their attention.

"_Hysteria, mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!  
Mass hysteria!_"

None of them noticed. They went back to being high and half-alive as quickly as they'd started laughing. Christian lost it. He grabbed Gloria and started begging her to wake up. Train watched from his hiding spot, almost feeling sorry for the failed relationship.

"_There's a disturbance on the oceanside  
They tapped into the reserve  
The static response is so unclear now  
Mayday this is not a test!  
As the neighborhood burns, America is falling  
Vigilantes warning ya,  
Calling Christian and Gloria_."

Just then, Gloria woke up.


	19. Modern World

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - MODERN WORLD**

"Christian?" Gloria asked weakly. "What the hell are you doing here?" The other Dazers woke up slowly and stared at their old friend.

"I couldn't stand being away from you for another minute," Christian said. "I need you guys in my life. I need _you_." Gloria smiled at the sincere comment.

"Yeah, yeah, he loves you, that's wonderful," Train said. "In other news, I'm on the news."

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked.

"On my way here, I saw a news report about my disappearance."

"You left the lot?" Ashley cried. "Train, you're supposed to stay here all the time! Do you know what could happen if they find out we've been hiding you?"

"Can we pretend to be parents later and worry about getting the hell out of here?" Amy called out. "Trust me, if the cops find us, we're beyond fucked." The Dazers began running around and gathering their belongings.

"_I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!_"

Christian went onto the roof. He told everyone it was to keep a lookout for any cops, but he just wanted to enjoy this view one last time. It was more than likely that he wouldn't be showing his face around here for a very long time.

"_I'm the class of '13  
In the era of dissent  
A hostage of the soul  
On a strike to pay the rent  
The last of the rebels  
Without a common ground  
I'm gonna light a fire into the underground_!"

When he was done looking around (and also making sure no one was coming to arrest them), he went back downstairs, where there was still a commotion going on.

"_I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!_"

Train stood in the middle of it all, unsure of what to do with himself. He didn't have any belongings of his own.

"_I am a nation without bureaucratic ties  
Deny the allegation as it's written - fucking lies!_"

"Where will we go?" Gloria asked Christian.

"To my place," Christian said, "for now. Until we can find a new place to hide. It's a start." Christian kissed her forehead and ran back outside. Gloria watched him take off.

"_I want to take a ride to the great divide  
Beyond the 'up to date' and the neo-gentrified  
The high-definition for the low resident  
Where the value of your mind is not held in contempt_."

Christian stood there and took in everything that was happening. All in one day, he dropped out of school, he let his mother go across the country without him, he most likely committed a few crimes, and now he was harboring at least one fugitive.

This was the rush he longed for.

"_I can hear the sound of a beating heart  
That bleeds beyond a system that's falling apart  
With money to burn on a minimum wage  
I don't give a shit about the modern age!_"

The other Dazers came out and ran behind him all the way to his house, chanting:"_I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!  
I don't wanna live in the modern world!_

_I don't wanna live in the modern world!_"

An hour later, the police showed up at the lot to try to find the missing boy. Several people reported someone who looked vaguely like him running in there. All they found was broken glass and worn down furniture. They decided that no kid was hiding here and walked away from the case only days later. After all, they hadn't found this kid in three years. It was very unlikely to them that he'd turn up out of the blue now.


	20. See the Light

**HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES - SEE THE LIGHT**

The first night, the Dazers crashed in any room they pleased. They'd all decided that a hardwood floor was much more comfortable than glass-and-rock covered couches and concrete floors. He'd sacrificed his bedroom for Train to sleep in, knowing the kid needed it the most. The others found the couches or chairs (or, in Amy's case, the bathtub) suitable enough. Christian walked around the house making sure everyone was accounted for when he noticed that Gloria was missing. He felt the breeze from the nearby open window. Christian shut it and picked up his house key as he left out the front door.

He didn't want Gloria to go. He'd just won her back. Where could she have possibly gone? Not the lot, not after the police have been there to find Train (he'd seen the report on the news and warned the others). School? She never liked going there even when she was still a student. He wandered around until he approached the junkyard. He saw Gloria hurling rocks at the glass. Each jar or bottle shattered into thousands of pieces. Rather than seeming destructive, Christian thought it was beautiful. Just like Gloria.

He stayed back far enough so she couldn't hear him and watched her pale body in the moonlight.

"_I__ crossed the river  
Fell into the sea  
Where the non-believers go beyond belief  
Then I scratched the surface  
In the mouth of hell  
Running out of service in the blood I fell_

_Well I, I just want to see the light_  
_And I, I don't want to lose my sight_  
_Well I, I just want to see the light_  
_And I need to know what's worth the fight_."

Gloria jumped off of the ledge and slid to the bottom of the hill. She liked being out in the open. It helped keep her mind clear, something she was striving to do more often.

"_I've been wasted  
Pills and alcohol  
I've been chasing  
Down the pool halls  
I drank the water from a hurricane  
I set a fire just to see the flame_

_Well I, I just want to see the light_  
_And I, I don't want to lose my sight_  
_Well I, I just want to see the light_  
_And I need to know what's worth the fight_."

Christian followed her. He knew he couldn't hide forever, but Gloria didn't seem to suspect his presence. He jumped on a smashed up car, something that caught her attention.

"_I crossed the desert  
Reaching higher ground  
Then I found the pavement to take the liars down_."

Gloria slowly climbed on the car too.

"_But it's gone forever, but never too late  
Where the ever after is in the hands of fate_."

The two held each other, staring in each other's pale pair of eyes.

"_Well I, I just want to see the light  
And I, I don't want to lose my sight  
Well I, I just want to see the light  
And I need to know what's worth the fight_."

The two leaned in to the other and shared a small, lovely kiss.

* * *

_**The end of 21st Century Breakdown! But don't worry, the sequel, Kill the DJ, is on its way! Wanna know what'll happen when the Idiots and the Dazers clash? You'll soon find out!**_


End file.
